Polly
09-26-2005, 06:29 PM
It all started this past Spring, when I was blessed with a baby raccoon, abandoned, who was all of 3 weeks old. She was barely alive, I ran to the pet store and loh and behold they had wild animal formula (go figure) and I bottle fed this beautiful baby every four hours. After a couple of weeks, she was no longer feeble, but very agile and "busy"!
At the direction of a local animal rescue rehabber, I made up my own formula for "Phyl" (who we originally thought was a boy) and Phyl went from raccoon to pig. She gained like, a gazillion ounces every day. We bought her a water fountain to play in, lots of cat toys, and she also litter-boxed trained herself.
I'm going to post pics as soon as I can figure out how. She is about 20 pounds now, mostly FAT, (we call her "Phat Phyl") and she sleeps with me most nights. You haven't lived until a raccoon sticks her pointy, wet nose into your ear and blows! I call it a "raccoon 'wet willy'". She is so delightful and very curious. She's into everything! She can open just about anything with her little "hands".
She was raised with my dogs and cats, so she relates to them very well. We were trying to rehab her back into the wild, but she imprinted on us so heavily that she would have never been afraid of humans. We ended up spaying her and having her inoculated, as well as administering the "Frontline" flea treatment. She seems very happy here and doesn't have much interest in going outside.
We will be building an enclosure outside for her, complete with a fish pond, but it's just in the design stage right now. Meanwhile, I relish every minute watching my Phyl, petting her incredibly soft fur, and delighting in her antics. She's the coolest pet I ever had! :)
At the direction of a local animal rescue rehabber, I made up my own formula for "Phyl" (who we originally thought was a boy) and Phyl went from raccoon to pig. She gained like, a gazillion ounces every day. We bought her a water fountain to play in, lots of cat toys, and she also litter-boxed trained herself.
I'm going to post pics as soon as I can figure out how. She is about 20 pounds now, mostly FAT, (we call her "Phat Phyl") and she sleeps with me most nights. You haven't lived until a raccoon sticks her pointy, wet nose into your ear and blows! I call it a "raccoon 'wet willy'". She is so delightful and very curious. She's into everything! She can open just about anything with her little "hands".
She was raised with my dogs and cats, so she relates to them very well. We were trying to rehab her back into the wild, but she imprinted on us so heavily that she would have never been afraid of humans. We ended up spaying her and having her inoculated, as well as administering the "Frontline" flea treatment. She seems very happy here and doesn't have much interest in going outside.
We will be building an enclosure outside for her, complete with a fish pond, but it's just in the design stage right now. Meanwhile, I relish every minute watching my Phyl, petting her incredibly soft fur, and delighting in her antics. She's the coolest pet I ever had! :)